1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an active distance measuring apparatus with the remote control function, and particularly to the technique of ensuring focusing to be accurately accomplished upon the operation of a remote control device in an active multipoint distance measuring apparatus used, for example, in a camera or the like to project a plurality of light beams onto a subject for distance measurement and effect distance measurement on the basis of the irregularly reflected light thereof.
2. Related Background Art
In order to enable even unskilled photographers to take well-focused photographs, there have heretofore been produced cameras provided with auto focus devices. Many of such cameras have the remote control function to effect release from positions far from the cameras.
Such auto focus devices include one of the multipoint distance measuring type which projects a light beam onto a plurality of locations within the photographing range and distance-measures the plurality of locations on the basis of the irregularly reflected light thereof and also determines an optimal in-focus position from the distance measurement data of each distance measuring point by a predetermined processing sequence.
Also, in such cameras equipped with the auto focus function and the remote control function, there has been proposed a camera in which the distance measuring optical path of a distance measuring apparatus is mechanically changed so as to detect the transmitted position of remote control signal light by exclusive position detecting means and accurately distance-measure an object which is the remote control operator (Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2-135310).
However, in the prior-art camera having the auto focus device and the remote control function, a light receiving element for auto focus and a light receiving element for remote control are discrete from each other, and this has led to the inconvenience that the apparatus construction of the camera becomes complicated.
Also, it is often the case with the photographing using remote control that the remote control operator is also photographed as an object. However, where photographing is effected by a camera of the aforedescribed prior-art multipoint distance measuring type, the remote control operator is not always judged as an optimal in-focus position under such a situation that there exist a plurality of objects in the image field, and this has led to the inconvenience that the resultant photograph is not in focus to the remote control operator.
Further, in the camera proposed in the aforementioned Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2-135310, a light receiving element discrete from a light receiving element for distance measurement has been necessary to detect the position of an object and further, it has been necessary to use a complicated mechanism in order to change the distance measuring optical path. There has also been the inconvenience that in the photographing using remote control, the remote control operator is always positioned at the center of the image field irrespective of the photographer's intention.